Musical Journey: Germany (DVD), Naxos, Music & Performance

The Places - the Puppet Museum in Munich houses a remarkable display of puppets of all kinds, from string and hand puppets to the shadow puppets of China. Nuremberg, famous for it's toys, has a Toy Museum, with exhibits ranging from the earliest times to the more nearly contemporary. From this collection we see a doll's house, accurate in every detail, and some of the museum's mechanical toys, in working order. The Music - the tour is accompanied by a series of popular piano pieces, ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Saint-Sa++ns and Debussy. Mozart's Turkish March is followed by Beethoven's so-called Rage over a Lost Penny. Included is a Chopin Waltz, a Mendelssohn Song Without Words and Tchaikovsky's Chanson triste. The music ends with Liszt's piano transcription of the Danse macabre of Saint-Saens.